U.S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

BUREAU  OF  PLANT  INDUSTRY     BULLETIN  No.  72,  PART  I. 
B.  T.  GALLOWA1     i 


CULTIVATION  OF  WHEA1 
ALFALFA  FIE 


I). Win  FAIRCHILD,  Agricultural  Explorer. 


SEED    AND    PLANT    INTRODUCTION    AND    DISTRIBUTION. 


l  —  i  Mi   Dkcemhi  i:  !',    1!MM. 
[  Rj  issi  i   "i   June,   L905.  ] 


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I.    P.I.      130.  8.  P.  I.  D.— 41. 

CULTIVATION  OF  WHEAT  IN   PERMANENT 
ALFALFA   FIELDS: 


Wheal  and  alfalfa  are  being  successfully  grown  together  at  the 
same  time  <>n  the  dry  uplands  of  North  Africa.  Alfalfa,  although 
doubtless  one  of  the  greatest  forage  crops  in  the  world,  has  not  so 
far  in  America  been  capabli  of  utilization  in  a  short  rotation  with 
wheat,  but  the  recent  experiments  of  a  Swiss  agriculturist  in  Algeria 
have  proved  that  wheat  and  alfalfa  run  be  grown  to  decided  advan- 
tage in  alternate  row  -. 

During  an  exploring  trip  which  the  writer  made  for  the  Office  of 
Seed  and  Plant  Introduction  and  Distribution,  in  company  with  Mr. 
( !.  S.  Scofield,  a  visit  was  made  to  Setif,  Algeria,  where  Mr.  <i.  Ryf, 
in  charge  of  the  Swiss  settlement  there,  has  some  remarkable  experi- 
mental grounds.  We  noted,  among  the  numerous  interesting  things 
with  which  Mr.  Ryf  was  experimenting,  a  field  of  alfalfa  planted  in 
rows  3  feet  apart,  between  which  rows,  he  assured  us,  he  grew  every 
other  year  a  crop  of  durum  wheat.  Since  making  this  observation 
in  Algeria  in  1901  the  attention  of  the  writer  has  been  called  to  the 
fact  that  such  a  rotation,  if  it  can  strictly  be  called  a  rotation,  is  not 

a  Alfalfa  is  probably  the  greatesl  fodder  crop  oow  grown  in  America,  and 
wheal  Mill  holds  its  place  as  oue  of  our  most  imiwrtant  cultures.  The  immense 
areas  of  whe.it  land  In  the  Northwest,  and  the  spread  of  durum  wheal  cultiva 
tion  into  tin-  arid  Southwest,  where  alfalfa  is  the  principal  fodder  crop,  should 
make  unusually  Interesting  the  experiment  of  Mr.  Ryf  ;is  reported  in  this 
paper  by  Mr.  Fairchild. 

With  the  present  increasing  interest  in  dry-land  farming  in  portions  of  the 
West,  ootablj  in  I'tah  and  Montana,  the  present  paper  is  very  timely,  and 
measures  should  by  all  means  be  taken  to  give  the  method  a  proper  trial. 

The  observations  of  which  this  is  a  reporl  were  made  by  Mr.  Fairchild  and 
Mr.  C.  s.  Scofield  during  their  explorations  in  Algeria  in  1901,  hut  at  that  time 
tin'  experiments  of  Mr.  Ryf  had  doI  progressed  far  enough  to  meril  calling  them 
to  thi  n  of  American  eulth  ators. 

A.    .1.    I'n  i  i  us. 

Botanist  in  <  'haw  . 
Offici  ei   Seed  and  Plani 

I  \  rRODVCTION     Wl'    I  >IS  I  RIBt    IMS. 

11  ashington,  D.  ''..  Von  »ift<  r  t9,  /'»<;. 

3 


4  CULTIVATION    OF    WHEAT    IN    ALFALFA    FIELDS. 

practiced  in  regions  in  America  which  are  similar  t<>  the  dry  uplands 
of  western  Algeria  so  far  as  climate  and  soil  are  concerned,  and  it 
has  seemed  worth  while  to  describe  this  simple  method  which  Mr. 
Ryf  has  discovered  and  which  he  has  now  in  satisfactory  operation 
on  his  place. 

In  response  to  a  letter  of  inquiry,  the  writer  received  a  communi- 
cation from  Mr.  Ryf,  dated  August  L2,  1904,  of  which  a  free  trans- 
lation from  the  French  follows: 

I  believe  more  and  more  firmly  that  lucern  <>  is  destined  to  play  an  important 
role  in  all  dry  countries  where  forage  is  scarce.  The  value  of  the  intercalary 
culture  of  cereals  in  lucern  has-been  proved.  1  believe  it  to  lie  rational  and  to 
solve  the  great  problem  of  an  economical  manure  crop.  After  numerous  trials 
with  planting  lucern  in  rows  at  different  distances  apart,  we  have  at  last 
found  that  a  distance  of  about  40  inches  between  double  rows  of  the  plant  is 
most  satisfactory.  The  distance  between  the  single  rows  is  uniformly  about 
4  inches.     Formerly  we  sowed  the  lucern  in  single  rows,  but  we  have  found  it 

surer  to  sow  it   in  double  rows.     With  ur 1  seeders  i be  work-  of  sowing  is  not 

difficult.  The  space  of  40  inches  between  the  double  rows  of  lucern  we  sow 
ordinarily  with  only  three  rows  of  wheat  or  other  cereal,  each  row  occupying 
about  7  inches  and  the  double  row  of  lucern  12  inches,  making  a  total  of  40 
inches.  The  space  between  the  two  rows  of  lucern  is  cultivated  two  or  three 
limes.  In  one  of  these  cultivations  the  earth  is  turned  toward  the  rows  of 
lucern;  in  the  other,  away  from  them.  After  each  cultivation  a  harrow  lam! 
sometimes  a  roller)  is  run  over  the  ground,  providing  there  are  stones  or  large 
clods.  These  spaces  between  the  rows  of  lucern  arc  sown  only  one  year  out  of 
every  two,  the  yield  in  forage  during  the  year  in  which  the  ground  is  left  fallow 
compensating  largely  for  the  loss  which  is  incurred  by  not  planting  the  ground. 
In  very  good  soils  our  good  indigenous  varieties  of  lucern  make  such  a  growth 
that  the  rows  join  one  another,  notwithstanding  the  considerable  distance  of 
nearly  4(1  inches  which  separates  them.  A  field  during  tile  fallow  period  looks 
as  if  it  had  been  sown  broadcast,  or  at  least  drilled  in  lines  very  close  together. 
We  get  thus,  on  dry  soil,  without  irrigation,  two  or  three  cuttings  of  lucern,  and 
pasturage  more  or  less  abundant  during  the  remainder  of  the  year.  We  feared 
that  lucern  might  injure  the  cereals  planted  between  the  rows,  but  there  has 
been  no  reason  for  this  fear.  I  would  add  that  at  the  time  of  the  plowing  pre 
paratory  to  sowing  the  ground  we  take  pains  to  cut  off  with  the  colter  and 
plowshare,  both  of  which  are  kept  well  sharpened,  masses  of  the  lucern  routs. 
This  operation  in  a  measure  checks  the  growth  of  i  he  latter  during  the  vegeta- 
tive period  of  the  cereals;  but  being  a  plant  of  vigorous  spreading  habits,  it 
soon  sends  out  new  roots  and  shoots  in  such  a  way  that  the  following  year  it 
has  regained  all  of  its  former  vigor. 

There  are  very  considerable  advantages  in  this  method  of  culture.  The  lucern 
sends  its  roots  from  1  to  •">  meters  (3.28  to  9.84  feet)  deep  into  the  subsoil  and 
draws  from  it  the  water  necessary  for  its  growth.  It  absorbs,  as  well,  nitrogen 
from  the  atmosphere,  which  is  I  he  oilier  source  of  food.  From  the  roots,  which 
are  amputated  periodically,  is  secured  a  green  fertilizer  which,  according  to 
numerous  experiments,  is  equivalent  to  a  good  dressing  of  barnyard  manure. 
But  this  manure,  in  the  form  of  amputated  roots,  plays  still  another  role  quite 
as  important  in  dry  land.      It  serves  the  purpose  of  a  water  reservoir.      In  fact. 

oThe  French  name  luzerne  is  applied  in  Algeria,  as  elsewhere  to  Medicago 
sativa   Linn.,  which  in   America   is  called  alfalfa. 


CULTIVATION     OF    WHEAT    IN     ALFALFA     FIELDS.  ■  > 

these  roots  in  decomposing  become  like  little  sponges  which  run  through  the 
soil,  and  iii  these  the  rain  water  accumulates.  These  roots,  penetrating  ■:■ 
thus  constitute  reservoirs  of  humidity,  al  the  same  time  breaking  up  and  rotting 
"in  the  soil  and  subsoil,  in  this  way  furnishing  nourishment  and  moisture  to  the 
cereals  which  are  grown  between  the  lews,  and  playing  the  rOle  of  excavator  al 
t  he  s.- time. 

our  indigenous  varieties  of  lucern  which  have  I d  acclimated  in  this  region 

since  [toman  times  are  incomparably  men'  valuable  than  the  cultivated  lucern 
called  dt  Provence  or  de  Poitou.  The  former  varieties  are  as  strong  and  hardy 
as  the  latter  are  exacting  and  delicate,  and  they  will  last   for  several  centuries. 

it'  not  always,  defending  themselves  victoriously  ugainsl  the  w Is,  which  they 

often  kill  in  place  of  being  killed  by  them.  Among  these  indigenous  spei  ■ 
there  is  one  which  is  in  all  respects  superior,  and  we  are  doing  em-  best  to  propsi 
gate  this. 

A  aumber  of  cultivators  have  adopted  the  intercalary  culture  of  lucern  and 
cereals.  One  proprietor  in  Tunis  wrote  me  recentlj  thai  he  was  going  to  try  50 
hectares  i  123.55  acres)  of  this  intercalary  culture.  As  tor  myself,  1  extend  my 
cultures  each  year,  and  expect  to  sew  next  spring  as  large  an  area  as  the  seed 
selected  will  permit.     A  severe  storm  en  July  l.'!  destroyed  a  large  part  of  my 

lucern  which  had  i n  cui  i"i- seed,  which  fact   I  regrel  exceedingly.     I  believe 

that  our  indigenous  lucerns  would  grow  in  .Montana  and  other  of  your  cold  and 
drj  regions,  hut  under  these  conditions  there  are  certain  precautions  to  be  taken 
in  order  to  bring  the  young  plants  to  maturity.  Once  well  established,  no 
freezes  would  destroy  them:  of  this  1  am  convinced.  Our  climate  on  the  high 
plateau  of  Algeria,  although  not  so  cold  in  winter,  resembles  singularly  thai  ol 
I  he  drv    Staler  in   the  central  and  western  portions  of  your  country. 

Whether  in-  nut  a  place  for  this  unusual  method  of  cultivation  can 
lie  found  in  the  drier  regions  of  this  country  i-  well  worth  finding  out, 
in  view  of  the  fact  thai  so  successful  an  experimenter  and  so  practi- 
cal a  farmer  a-  Mr.  Ryf  has  pronounced  it  a  commercial  success  in 
Algeria  after  several  years  of  trial. 

O 


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